DOI Artikel:
Adamski, Jakub: An allusion to a cathedral in a rural foundation: on the iconography of the architecture of the sixteenth-century parish church in Brochów
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51757#0020
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JAKUB ADAMSKI
the locals in case of some upheaval.45 Thus, the elements of a defensive program in this church should
be interpreted in terms of architectural “signs” which conveyed certain meanings, such as the concepts
of power, endurance, fortitude or ability to provide protection, and which highlighted the status of the
family and the founder, and the venerable age of the place.
Piotr Gryglewski’s research has revealed that references to the past constitute one of the most
characteristic, and at the same time widespread phenomena in the architecture of 16th-century village and
small-town parish churches in central Poland, especially those associated with landowning family seats
and residences of the gentry.46 The Brochów church is an indicative example in this respect.47 Inscriptions
placed in its interior by order of Olbracht Lasocki further confirm the assumption that the sense of the
ancient origins of the church was intentionally evoked. The dedication tablet in the chancel specified
that the edifice replaced an older church founded by the dukes of Mazovia: “ecclesiam olim ligneam
a Ducibus Masoviae fundatam [...]”. This piece of information refers to the ancient, if vague, derivation
of the church and the parish. The inscription on the plaque on the first southern pier of the nave (as seen
from the east) emphasised the age of the edifice - the current one in this case, the church built by Jan
Brochowski - in an even more straightforward manner. It commemorates Lasocki’s input into the thorough
restoration, completed in 1665, of the church professed to have been “rickety with age” (a mere hundred
years after completion!): “Indignus peccator, Olbrachtus Adrianus Lasocki Iudex terrae Vissogrodiensis
Anno 1665 die 28 Augusti hanc suae collationis Ecclesiam iam vetustate labentem [...] Fundamentaliter
reparavit [,..]”.48 It seems that this phrase does not report the actual condition of the church before the
renovation (which was most probably relatively superficial),49 but rhetorically highlights its great age.
Izabella Galicka’s observation that Jan Brochowski, being the wojski of Warsaw supervised the final
stages of the construction of the second ring of the defensive walls around the Old Town in Warsaw is
exceedingly important in the context of the iconography of the architecture of the Brochów church.50 A source
report from 1548 states that an Italian mason named “Johannes Baptista” had built a tower in the gate “by
the baths” (“in porta iuxta balneatorum”), i.e. the Barbican at the Nowomiejska (New Town) gate.51 It is
considered certain that this mason is identical with Giovanni Battista Venetus, known from other sources as
responsible for the extension to the Płock cathedral (1556-1563) and the remodelling of the Płock parish
church (ca. 1540) and the Pułtusk collegiate church (before 1551).52 Although the surviving documents fail
to report this, this is certainly the same constructor as the one who constructed the Brochów church from
the ground up, as indicated by the distinctive features of the “Pułtusk group” edifices present therein: an
elongated plan of the semicircular apse and its umbrella-like semi-dome, consistent articulation by means
of huge arcades on the walls, and the “tunnel” barrel vaults decorated with dense coffering.53
All this allows us to assume that Jan Brochowski commissioned the construction of “his” church
from an experienced mason whom he had met a few years earlier during the construction of the Barbican
in Warsaw. In this context, the construction of the Brochów church as a structure with military features,
especially the shaping of its silhouette to resemble a small fortress, must be seen as a deliberate initiative
of the founder, who chose this surprising method of commemorating his merits as the wojski of Warsaw.54
This office, the tribunus, was one of the oldest in the structure of the land administration, confirmed
45 Cf.: Kunkel, Architektura gotycka..., pp. 58-60; Żmudziński, op. cit., p. 46.
46 See Gryglewski, op. cit., passim. On this phenomenon in the entire medieval architecture, see esp. M. Schmidt, Reverentia
und Magnificentia. Historizität in der Architektur Süddeutschlands, Österreichs und Böhmens vom 14. bis 17. Jahrhundert, Regensburg
1999; S. Albrecht, Die Inszienierung der Vergangenheit im Mittelalter. Die Klöster von Glastonbury und Saint-Denis, Munich-Berlin 2003;
H. Horn, Die Tradition des Ortes. Ein formbestimmendes Moment in der deutschen Sakralarchitektur des Mittelalters, Munich-Berlin 2015;
idem, Erinnerungen, geschrieben in Stein. Spuren der Vergangenheit in der mittelalterlichen Kirchenbaukultur, Munich-Berlin 2017.
47 Ibidem, pp. 225-228.
48 Author’s reading.
49 In the current condition of the church, it is not possible to find any element of the structure that could be linked with the
renovation works concluded in 1665.
50 Galicka, op. cit., s. 163.
51 E. Łopaciński, Warszawskie poszukiwania archiwalne do dziejów sztuki, “Biuletyn Historii Sztuki i Kultury”, 9, 1947, p. 45;
see also Architektura gotycka..., pp. 248-250 [note by J. Widawski].
52 See Kunkel, Jan Baptysta...', T. Żebrowski, Trzy dokumenty o Janie Baptyście z Wenecji, mieszczaninie płockim i budow-
niczym kościołów na Mazowszu w połowie XVI w., “Biuletyn Historii Sztuki”, 45, 1983, p. 46.
53 This attribution was made in 1936 by Jerzy Chyczewski and it has never been questioned since. See note 2.
54 Galicka, op. cit., s. 163; Kunkel, Architektura gotycka..., pp. 58-60; Żmudziński, op. cit., pp. 25, 30, 46.
JAKUB ADAMSKI
the locals in case of some upheaval.45 Thus, the elements of a defensive program in this church should
be interpreted in terms of architectural “signs” which conveyed certain meanings, such as the concepts
of power, endurance, fortitude or ability to provide protection, and which highlighted the status of the
family and the founder, and the venerable age of the place.
Piotr Gryglewski’s research has revealed that references to the past constitute one of the most
characteristic, and at the same time widespread phenomena in the architecture of 16th-century village and
small-town parish churches in central Poland, especially those associated with landowning family seats
and residences of the gentry.46 The Brochów church is an indicative example in this respect.47 Inscriptions
placed in its interior by order of Olbracht Lasocki further confirm the assumption that the sense of the
ancient origins of the church was intentionally evoked. The dedication tablet in the chancel specified
that the edifice replaced an older church founded by the dukes of Mazovia: “ecclesiam olim ligneam
a Ducibus Masoviae fundatam [...]”. This piece of information refers to the ancient, if vague, derivation
of the church and the parish. The inscription on the plaque on the first southern pier of the nave (as seen
from the east) emphasised the age of the edifice - the current one in this case, the church built by Jan
Brochowski - in an even more straightforward manner. It commemorates Lasocki’s input into the thorough
restoration, completed in 1665, of the church professed to have been “rickety with age” (a mere hundred
years after completion!): “Indignus peccator, Olbrachtus Adrianus Lasocki Iudex terrae Vissogrodiensis
Anno 1665 die 28 Augusti hanc suae collationis Ecclesiam iam vetustate labentem [...] Fundamentaliter
reparavit [,..]”.48 It seems that this phrase does not report the actual condition of the church before the
renovation (which was most probably relatively superficial),49 but rhetorically highlights its great age.
Izabella Galicka’s observation that Jan Brochowski, being the wojski of Warsaw supervised the final
stages of the construction of the second ring of the defensive walls around the Old Town in Warsaw is
exceedingly important in the context of the iconography of the architecture of the Brochów church.50 A source
report from 1548 states that an Italian mason named “Johannes Baptista” had built a tower in the gate “by
the baths” (“in porta iuxta balneatorum”), i.e. the Barbican at the Nowomiejska (New Town) gate.51 It is
considered certain that this mason is identical with Giovanni Battista Venetus, known from other sources as
responsible for the extension to the Płock cathedral (1556-1563) and the remodelling of the Płock parish
church (ca. 1540) and the Pułtusk collegiate church (before 1551).52 Although the surviving documents fail
to report this, this is certainly the same constructor as the one who constructed the Brochów church from
the ground up, as indicated by the distinctive features of the “Pułtusk group” edifices present therein: an
elongated plan of the semicircular apse and its umbrella-like semi-dome, consistent articulation by means
of huge arcades on the walls, and the “tunnel” barrel vaults decorated with dense coffering.53
All this allows us to assume that Jan Brochowski commissioned the construction of “his” church
from an experienced mason whom he had met a few years earlier during the construction of the Barbican
in Warsaw. In this context, the construction of the Brochów church as a structure with military features,
especially the shaping of its silhouette to resemble a small fortress, must be seen as a deliberate initiative
of the founder, who chose this surprising method of commemorating his merits as the wojski of Warsaw.54
This office, the tribunus, was one of the oldest in the structure of the land administration, confirmed
45 Cf.: Kunkel, Architektura gotycka..., pp. 58-60; Żmudziński, op. cit., p. 46.
46 See Gryglewski, op. cit., passim. On this phenomenon in the entire medieval architecture, see esp. M. Schmidt, Reverentia
und Magnificentia. Historizität in der Architektur Süddeutschlands, Österreichs und Böhmens vom 14. bis 17. Jahrhundert, Regensburg
1999; S. Albrecht, Die Inszienierung der Vergangenheit im Mittelalter. Die Klöster von Glastonbury und Saint-Denis, Munich-Berlin 2003;
H. Horn, Die Tradition des Ortes. Ein formbestimmendes Moment in der deutschen Sakralarchitektur des Mittelalters, Munich-Berlin 2015;
idem, Erinnerungen, geschrieben in Stein. Spuren der Vergangenheit in der mittelalterlichen Kirchenbaukultur, Munich-Berlin 2017.
47 Ibidem, pp. 225-228.
48 Author’s reading.
49 In the current condition of the church, it is not possible to find any element of the structure that could be linked with the
renovation works concluded in 1665.
50 Galicka, op. cit., s. 163.
51 E. Łopaciński, Warszawskie poszukiwania archiwalne do dziejów sztuki, “Biuletyn Historii Sztuki i Kultury”, 9, 1947, p. 45;
see also Architektura gotycka..., pp. 248-250 [note by J. Widawski].
52 See Kunkel, Jan Baptysta...', T. Żebrowski, Trzy dokumenty o Janie Baptyście z Wenecji, mieszczaninie płockim i budow-
niczym kościołów na Mazowszu w połowie XVI w., “Biuletyn Historii Sztuki”, 45, 1983, p. 46.
53 This attribution was made in 1936 by Jerzy Chyczewski and it has never been questioned since. See note 2.
54 Galicka, op. cit., s. 163; Kunkel, Architektura gotycka..., pp. 58-60; Żmudziński, op. cit., pp. 25, 30, 46.